404

Shares

Email this story to a friend

YouTube

Israeli media have posted video of Palestinians pelting Jews at point-blank range with snowballs as they were on their way home from prayers at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. During the attack, the Orthodox Jews tried to shield their faces with their hands as the snow and ice continued flying their way. Rather than trying to help the victims, at least one Palestinian man was seen videotaping the incident from up close on his smartphone.

In the video, one Jewish man is seen being pushed violently as he ascends the icy steps. After he falls, the person filming the clip apparently can’t contain his laughter and is heard chuckling loudly.

Another Palestinian youth pulled the traditional black hat off one of the men. Meanwhile, more youths joined in, throwing snow, kicking one of the Jewish men, harassing, pushing and blocking their way out. Even as the religious men crossed the street to get away, the mob of Palestinians continued chasing them, blocking traffic so they could continue their attack.

The attack took place outside Damascus Gate, one of the entrances to Jerusalem’s Old City – the location of sites holy to Jews, Christians and Muslims including the Western Wall, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Al Aqsa Mosque. The video was posted on Saturday, but it’s unclear exactly when the attack occurred between snowfall Thursday and Saturday.

This photo taken from another angle clearly shows the gleeful attackers smiling and pulling the hat off of one of the Jewish men. The photo was posted on a Palestinian website.

Israelis are expressing outrage at the incident. Far-right politician Michael Ben-Ari wrote on his Facebook page: “This is not 1930s Europe…This is from here, in Jerusalem, the capital of Israel.”

“Arab marauders, attacking Jews and humiliating them, with the self-confidence that no one will stop them,” he added.

Elsewhere, Palestinian extremists used the snow to express their feelings for Israelis. Hamas’ military wing, Ezzedin Al-Qassam, posted this photo of an ice sculpture constructed on the Temple Mount – the holiest site in Judaism. Instead of a snowman, Palestinians constructed a snow M-75, the long-range rocket Hamas launched from Gaza at civilians in central Israel during the November hostilities.

Hamas’ military wing tweeted this photo

And another photo shows a man wearing a keffiyah and the green headband associated with Hamas posing with the missile.

Photo from Anamnalquds.com

As TheBlaze previously reported, there were at least two cases in which Israelis saved Arabs from the extreme weather last week. An IDF commando unit deployed a helicopter to rescue an Arab family trapped on the roof of their home, while another unit rescued three Palestinian men who were about to be swept away by the rising tide of the Nablus River.

Israeli blogger Aussie Dave took note of the different approaches, writing, “While we saved some of our cousins who got into a spot of bother during the recent wild weather, the gestures were not always reciprocated. Unless crying Allah Akbar, grabbing the hat of a Charedi [ultra-Orthodox] Jew and throwing snowballs in to his face at point blank range is some weird Arab expression of gratitude.”

Israelis and Muslims sometimes refer to each other as “cousins” in reference to the biblical Abraham who was the father of Isaac, forefather of the Jews, and Ishmael, forefather of the Muslims.